Former Bachelorette star Katie Thurston’s mother has been diagnosed with breast cancer.
“Life update: my mom has #breastcancer. I flew to Seattle this weekend to be with her at her first appointment,” the reality TV star announced via Instagram on Monday, January 19, alongside a carousel featuring the same throwback photo of the mother-daughter with additional information about her mom’s diagnosis.
“I want to make sure she is getting proper care and information,” Thurston, 35, continued. “I hate that we have to be our biggest advocate but also, it’s what will save our life. Dense breast need more than a mammogram to screen for cancer and yet somehow my mom had never been referred for further imaging. We are getting more answers today but I believe our own advocacy allowed us to catch this early.”
She continued in the comments section, “If you have [a] family history of breast cancer or dense breasts – please request further imaging such as a breast ultrasound or breast MRI.”
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In the carousel of the same photo, Thurston further elaborated on how her mother received her diagnosis, first revealing that she got the news “a few weeks ago.”
“My mom was diagnosed with breast cancer a few weeks ago. But it wasn’t her doctors who discovered it,” the first photo read, while the second added, “She just had her mammogram in December where her results said ‘negative’ and ‘probably benign.’”
The rest of the photos explained, “They also noted her dense breasts but didn’t recommend further imaging. They told her to come back in a year for her annual mammogram. They never suggested a breast ultrasound. I told her to ask for a breast ultrasound. Ultrasounds can find cancer hidden within dense breasts. During her breast ultrasound, they found suspicious masses. They scheduled a breast MRI & performed biopsies.”
According to Thurston, the star of 2021’s season 17 of the hit reality dating show, her mother was diagnosed with cancer “within two weeks of her ‘normal’ mammogram and her advocating for herself.”
The announcement comes nearly one year after Thurston revealed she had been diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 34.
“I had a small lump in my breast around the 10’oclock [sic] spot,” she wrote via her Instagram Stories in February 2025. “I discovered it myself. Thought maybe it was my period [or] maybe it was muscle soreness from working out. But, eventually, this lump never went away.”
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In March 2025, Thurston left L.A. to live in New York City full-time before starting fertility treatments that would allow her to freeze embryos before undergoing chemotherapy and eventual surgery.
On March 28, days after Us Weekly exclusively confirmed that Thurston tied the knot with Jeff Arcuri on March 22, the former Bachelorette confirmed her breast cancer had spread to her liver, putting her at stage IV.
Earlier this month, after the start of the new year, Thurston gave an update on her cancer battle.
“Recently, my liver MRI continued to show no evidence of disease! TBD on my breasts,” she captioned an Instagram post at the time. “Those scans happen next month so fingers crossed!”
